The present invention relates to a joining electrical connector for joining board electrical connectors, which are respectively disposed on electrical boards, with a connector fitting direction being perpendicular to board surfaces.
A conventional joining electrical connector is disclosed in, for example, Patent Reference. The conventional joining electrical connector disclosed in Patent Reference includes a housing having a first support member and a second support member; and a plurality of joining terminals that are arranged in and supported by the housing and connect the first support member and the second support member.    Patent Reference: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2010-033953
In the conventional joining electrical connector disclosed in Patent Reference, each joining terminal extends in a connector fitting direction (an up-and-down direction) and has two legs to connect with the respective board electrical connectors and a joining section for connecting the two legs. Each of the two legs extends in an axial direction that is downward from a lower part of the joining section, penetrates holes of the first support member and the second support member from thereabove, and has an upper end section supported by an inner circumferential surface so as to be able to pivotally move around the axis. Each leg has an annular groove formed at a portion that protrudes downward from the hole, and the annular groove works as a contact section to contact with a terminal of the board electrical connector.
In the conventional joining electrical connector with the configuration described above, when the respective board electrical connectors are arranged off from a regular position in the terminal arrangement direction, responding to the displacement, it is possible to displace the positions of the first support member and the second support member of the housing in the terminal arrangement direction, so that the conventional joining electrical connector can fit to each board electrical connector.
In addition, in the conventional joining electrical connector, when the first support member and the second support member displace in the terminal arrangement direction, the connecting terminals pivotally move around the axis while having the both legs, which are the contact sections, slidably contact in the circumferential direction with terminals of the board electrical connector at the annular groove, and thereby the joining section tilts when viewed from thereabove.
As described above, in the conventional joining electrical connector disclosed Patent Reference, the two legs of the joining terminal extend downward from the lower part of the joining section. Accordingly, the dimension of the joining terminal in the up-and-down direction (height dimension) is not smaller than a total height of the legs and the joining section, so that it is difficult to make the conventional joining electrical connector with a lower profile.
In view of the problems described above, an object of the invention is to provide a joining electrical connector with a smaller dimension in a connector fitting direction.
Further objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description of the invention.